


Kiss The Girl

by killerxcanaries



Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: @ zoey’s extraordinary playlist writers hire me to write for you next season please and thank you, F/M, I love this show, but it’s mostly happy or funny or both, clarkeman, i didn’t include simon oh well, if zoey and max don’t kiss in the actual episode i will riot, renew zoey’s extraordinary playlist for season two nbc, there’s a sad part, this is 100 percent clarkeman so if you ship zoey x simon and you read this don’t get mad at me, this is literal crack i’m sorry, zoey x max, zoey x max are endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23942461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killerxcanaries/pseuds/killerxcanaries
Summary: Based on the promo for Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist season 1 episode 12, when Max and Zoey are sitting on the couch and Max says, “I just don’t want to go backwards, Zoey”. What would happen if someone wanted Zoey and Max to get together so badly that they sang their feelings to the two of them in a song with a little help from Zoey and Max’s friends and family?
Relationships: Zoey Clarke & Max Richman, Zoey Clarke/Max Richman
Comments: 18
Kudos: 48





	Kiss The Girl

**Author's Note:**

> this was also based on a tweet that i had live-tweeted after 1x11 that said “ IF MAXWELL RICHMAN LOOKS FROM ZOEY CLARKE’S EYES TO HER LIPS AND BACK UP TO HER EYES AGAIN AND DOESN’T SHOOT HIS SHOT AND JUST KISS THE GIRL ALREADY I’M GOING TO RIOT” and a ton of people kept commenting “wouldn’t it be funny if someone sang ‘kiss the girl’?”. well, this one’s for all of you clarkeman shippers because my accidental word play brought about this whole piece

"I just don't want to go backwards, Zoey."

Max's eyes flickered from Zoey's eyes down to her lips, and once he realized what had been done his eyes immediately flew back up to meet her eyes. 

Sure, did Max just want to say, "bye, bye, bye" to the girl in front of him because of her inability to choose which guy she liked more? Because of the way she thought it was fine to see inside his mind and not be completely open about anything and everything with Max in the same way? Because of the way being in the same room as Max made him want to instantly let down his walls and embrace his best friend in the tightest hug he's ever been part of because of how much he misses her? 

Yes, yes, and...well, yes. But Max and Zoey had finally made up as friends again, and while Max admitted to the fact that he tried to keep his walls up and simply couldn't anymore- straight to Zoey's face, of course- after mentioning Joan, Ava, and the cemetery the girl had been at several times lately, Max wasn't about to do something to make Zoey be the one to put her walls up this time. As hard as it was to pretend that he hated someone as hilarious, and energetic, and incredibly sweet and caring as Zoey Clarke, Max couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to have Zoey be mad at him.

He was stronger than the urges. Maxwell Richman had spent far too long hugging his best friend or sitting less than two feet away from the ginger when all he wanted to do was press his lips against hers- Was Zoey a good kisser? She probably was- but he was going to resist the thought for as long as he had to. It isn't meant to happen now, as the two had just recently become friends again, and there was absolutely no way that Max would allow himself to be the one to break apart their friendship once again. 

Zoey glanced from Max's eyes down to his lips before meeting his eyes again, and Max could've swore that he stopped breathing altogether. He basically froze in place, but when Zoey leaned ever-so-slightly in towards Max, his heart started beating faster, and Zoey's began to do the same.

Zoey would be lying to herself if she said that she hadn't been in love with her best friend for far longer than she could remember. But, the thing is, she was lying to herself about the fact, as Zoey had somehow perfected the ability to convince herself that every time Max smiled at Zoey it didn't make her stomach do flips, that every time Max laughed it didn't make her heart start to beat faster, and that every time Max hugged Zoey it didn't make her want to hug him even tighter just to be closer to him. 

Well...maybe not perfected, per se, as here she was, about to lean in and kiss Max. 

There was absolutely no way that Zoey Clarke was going to give in and kiss Maxwell Richman. No possible way, because they just became friends again, and Zoey missed her best friend more than she missed the warmth and comfort of her bed after an excruciatingly-long day of work. And damn, did she love her bed. 

But she loved Max more. 

Except she couldn't allow herself to do that, as the mere thought of saying that she loved someone scared Zoey out of her mind. The thought of losing her best friend again was also high up on that list, and doing two of the same things all in one swoop? Yeah, Zoey would be perfectly fine not having to face two of her fears in the same day.

Zoey was brought out of her thought as she realized just how close the two had gotten to each other, blinking herself back to reality. 

"Max, I," Zoey started, pulling herself back from their previous position, shaking her head as she raked a hand up through her hair. "We can't."

"I know," Max whispered in defeat, sitting back slightly as well.

"I want to, Max. Believe me, I do. B-But we just became friends again."

"I know," another dejected reply came from Max.

"I can't lose you again, Max," Zoey whispered, looking up to see Max look up at her as well, tears slowly forming in Zoey's eyes at the mere though of having to go through her everyday life again while not being able to see or talk to Max.

"I can't lose you either, Zo. But who's to say we'd be losing each other? If you like me, which you admitted when you sang 'I'm Yours' to me, and I like you, which you already know I do because of however many heart songs you've heard me sing to you by now, then why can't we just try?"

Zoey bit her lip, wanting so badly to just whisper the four letter, two syllable word in response. Even just the slightest nod of her head would suffice, except Zoey couldn't do that. She couldn't throw everything she had just gained back away over something as stupid as her feelings. 

Before Zoey or Max could say another word they both froze in place as they heard the door to Zoey's apartment being jiggled around, and fear grew evident in Zoey's eyes. Max placed a hand on Zoey's ankle, shaking his head.

"I've got you, you're not going to get hurt," he whispered just as the sound of a key turning in the doorknob and the door being opened sounded through the now-silent apartment. 

Before Max could stand up and grab a knife- it would have been the closest defense mechanism to the two from the couch they were currently sitting on, and if it meant that Zoey would be safe then Max would go to the extremes just to protect her- their intruder made their way into the living room, making Max roll his eyes.

"So, here I was, just enjoying myself out there as I listened to your conversation, and then you two begin to whisper. You do realize that you can't actually hear whispering through a closed door, right?" Mo asked, taking a handful of the bowl of buttered popcorn that was in his hands and putting it into his mouth.

"Mo, what the hell?" Max asked, and Mo just shrugged.

"What can I say? I was always Team Max, even if I pretended that I wasn't. You two having a secret conversation after just becoming friends again? Too good of an opportunity to miss out on."

"Mo...how did you get into my apartment?" Zoey asked, and Mo shrugged again.

"Uh...I made a copy of your key? How else would I have my own?" 

"When did you even- Mo, what do you want?"

"Oh, nothing, just keep talking."

Zoey rolled her eyes, looking down at her lap in embarrassment and nervousness as she played with her shirt sleeves.

"You know, I tried to do this the easy way, but now we'll just do it the 'Mo way'."

"The 'Mo way'?" Max asked, and Mo swatted a hand in Max's direction as if to say, "just be quiet and let me speak", something that Mo would definitely say.

Mo scrolled and clicked through a series of screens on his phone before setting it down on Zoey's counter, the opening notes of a song starting to come from the speaker of the phone, making Zoey's head whip up immediately.

"Mo..." Zoey started, and Mo just smiled innocently.

"Before you ask, no, this isn't one of your heart songs, it's us physically singing our feelings out loud while having full knowledge of what we are about to do."

"Us?" Max asked.

"We?" Zoey asked after him, her eyes going wide in shock and nervousness as to what was about to come. 

"There you see her, sitting there across the way," Mo began to sing, and Zoey's honestly didn't know how she felt because this was a song she had never heard before, so she had no clue what to expect. 

"Oh my god," Max mumbled, and Zoey looked over at him.

"What is this song?" she mouthed, and Max shook his head.

"Just listen," he mouthed back, looking down at his lap, and Zoey turned to look back up at Mo.

"She don't got a lot to say, but there's something about her. And you don't know why, but you're dyin' to try, you wanna kiss the girl."

"Oh my god," Zoey whispered, sitting back against the couch in disbelief that this was really happening. 

The door opened during a short period of background music, making Max and Zoey both visibly jump, revealing not only members of Zoey's family- Maggie, David, and Emily- but also people that worked at SPRQPoint with Max and Zoey- Joan, Leif, and Tobin. 

Zoey was starting to feel like the walls were closing in around her with everyone staring so intently at her and Max- okay, not "her and Max", like they were dating, but "her and Max" as in each of them individually but with their names together since they were both sitting on the same couch. 

"Yes, you want her. Look at her, you know you do," David sang, walking over and fist-bumping Max, who was just sitting there in shock. 

"Possible she want you too, there is one way to ask her," Maggie sang, smirking slightly as she directed the line at Max and winked, making him blush slightly.

"It don't take a word, not a single word, go on and kiss the girl," Emily sang, smiling widely as she wrapped Zoey in a side hug. 

Mo smirked to himself as he watched the way that Max and Zoey were getting very flustered very quickly, hoping the plan would work itself out in the end as it was supposed to. 

"Sing with me now," Mo sang, and the entire room joined in on the chorus as they walked around the room. 

"Sha la la la la la, my oh my, look like the boy too shy, ain't gonna kiss the girl. Sha la la la la la, ain't that sad? Ain't it a shame? Too bad, he gonna miss the girl." 

"Now's your moment, floatin' in a blue lagoon," Leif sang, patting Max on the back way stronger that he should have, making Max double over as he began coughing. Max quickly composed himself again as he tried to sit as far back into the couch as he possibly could- it would have just been wishful thinking, but Max would die for the couch to open up and suck him into it any moment now just so he could be anywhere but the room he was currently sitting in. 

"Boy, you better do it soon, no time will be better," Tobin sang, throwing finger guns at Zoey and Max that made them both blush even harder than they were before. 

"She don't say a word, and she won't say a word, until you kiss the girl," Joan sang, going up behind Zoey and resting her hands on Zoey's shoulders as she sang pointedly at Max. 

The entire room began singing once again, and Max looked down at his hands that were in his lap as Zoey shut her eyes and shook her head, feeling like she was going to start hyperventilating. She did not do well with surprise, and with the amount of surprises being thrown at her lately, the last thing that Zoey needed was this- well, whatever this is. 

"Sha la la la la la, don't be scared. You got the mood prepared, go on and kiss the girl. Sha la la la la la, don't stop now. Don't try to hide it, how you want to kiss the girl. Sha la la la la la, float along and listen to the song. The song say, "kiss the girl". Sha la la la la, music play, do what the music say, you got to kiss the girl. You've got to kiss the girl. You wanna kiss the girl. You've gotta kiss the girl. Go on and kiss the girl."

The seven singers ended up standing in a semi circle around the couch, staring at Max and Zoey intently with arms crossed across their chests. 

"So, as if the song wasn't completely obvious and somehow didn't speak for itself, Max, you need to man-up and kiss Zoey already," Tobin said, making Max shake his head with a sigh. 

"And Zoey, we all know that you have liked Max just as much as he likes you for way too long now, and one of you needs to make a move," Joan said, making Zoey look up at her in shock at the statement and at the way that Joan was the one giving her the advice.

Zoey looked over at Max at the exact second that he looked up at her, their breaths catching in both of their throats.

"I-I really like you, Max, b-but I can't lose my best friend," Zoey whispered, and Max sighed, shaking his head.

"I really like you too, Zo. And I would never, ever, let our friendship fall apart again, because even just this short time without you by my side was too hard to handle. If we were to try something and it were to go wrong-" Max started in a whisper as well, before he was cut off. 

Zoey leaned forward and pressed her lips against Max's, wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped one around her waist to lie at the small of Zoey's back, the other going up to cup Zoey's face. 

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Mo smirked with a snap as the rest of the room clapped and cheered, and Zoey immediately pulled away from Max, her eyes going wide as she looked from Max to the people surrounding her, shaking her head.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "Oh my god...oh my god!" Zoey exclaimed, getting up and running around the people gathered around the couch towards her room, slamming the door shut and locking it. Her clammy hands slowly made their way up to clasp over Zoey's mouth, arms shaking on their way up. Zoey tried to hold back the tears that she knew were threatening to form in her eyes, even though they had already made their way into them. 

"Zoey?" Maggie called from outside the door as she knocked twice against the white wood, and that was all it took for Zoey's composure to break as large, salty tears started making their way down Zoey's pale face, her entire body beginning to tremble in fear, embarrassment, and about a million other emotions that Zoey couldn't even pick out because she wasn't even capable of forming a coherent thought at that point.

"Hey, can I come in?" Maggie asked gently again, and Zoey started to cry harder, the hands clasped around her mouth hiding the heaviness in her breathing. Zoey sniffed in shakily, and even through the locked-shut door, Maggie could hear that her daughter was breaking inside the room and was trying to hide the fact. 

"I-I just want to be alone right now, Mom," Zoey managed to get out, trying her hardest not to sound like she was seconds away from allowing the sobs that she was choking back to just spill out of her red-lipstick-covered lips. 

"Alright, hun. Do you want me to....I'm going to send everyone home, alright? If you want to talk we'll be out in the other room, otherwise you can just text or call us and we'll come in."

Zoey could hear her mother's receding footsteps, feeling her composure falling more and more as each second passed. Shutting her eyes tightly, Zoey buried her head between her knees and let out a choked sob, wishing that every single event that she could remember happening that night was part of a nightmare, and that she would wake up perfectly fine in just a few more minutes.

"Be quiet, Zoey. They can hear you out there. You're fine, just get up," her thoughts yelled at her, and Zoey groaned out in frustration, the tears only starting to flow faster than they were before.

The second Zoey pulled away so suddenly from Max's kiss he became confused, wondering what went wrong. Max's confusion didn't turn into worry until the ginger got up and ran as quickly out of the room as she possibly could, and while Max was immediately standing up and heading after her, Leif put a hand on Max's shoulder, frowning.

"She needs some time, man," he whispered, and Max stepped back, running a hand through his hair as he breathed out shakily. 

"Max, dude, she's fine. She probably just got embarrassed or something," Tobin said, and Max shook his head. 

"No, I know Zoey, and that wasn't just embarrassed Zoey. Embarrassed Zoey would have been blushing as red as her hair is, a-and she always buries her head in her hands or looks away because she thinks that if you can't tell she's embarrassed you won't think she really is. That...that was disappointed and upset Zoey, the one that feels like she's ruined everything. I've seen it a lot lately because she'd always come to me almost in tears after a stressful day at work or when she felt like something that happened to Mitch that pushed the process further along was her fault. I-I know Zoey, and this Zoey claims that she wants to be alone because she's going to go cry, but she just wants someone to be there for her. So just...please don't stop me from being there for her," Max said worriedly, his voice wavering slightly in nervousness that definitely did not go unnoticed.

Maggie smiled slightly to herself as she realized just how much the boy that she had considered to be another son at this point had memorized each and every little detail and aspect about her daughter. 

"Max," Joan started, and Max sighed, sitting back down on the couch and staring down at his lap. "Zoey might be upset and might want someone to be there with her right now, but I think she just needs a little time to herself before she lets anyone in," she said softly, and Max didn't- couldn't- provide the woman in front of him with an answer, his nerves going crazy as he hoped that he wouldn't be the reason that Zoey did something in frustration or anger and hurt herself in the process. 

"Fine," he mumbled begrudgingly, and Max watched as Maggie retreated towards the direction Zoey had walked in before coming back into the room a few minutes later, a frown on her face.

"Hey everyone? Thank you for the help, but Zoey might be in there for a while and if everyone is still here when she comes out she might get a little overwhelmed," Maggie said slowly, and Joan, Tobin, Leif, and Mo immediately got the message and said goodbye before leaving. 

"Maggie, I...I can't leave without knowing if she's okay," Max said, the pleading look on his face causing Maggie to nod slowly.

"Okay," she said softly, and the other three all sat down as Emily turned the television on so it wouldn't make it seem as if the four were waiting for Zoey.

They weren't even five minutes into whatever show was put on that Max was paying absolutely no attention to when he heard a faint sob come from Zoey's room, and Max shook his head.

"If she doesn't want me here I'll leave immediately, but I need to go talk to her," Max said while getting up and leaving the room before anyone could even so much as attempt to protest, as Max wouldn't even have listened to anything they had to say because he was too worried at this point. 

He slowly knocked twice on the door, hearing a small gasp in response.

"I-I'm fine, Mom," Max heard Zoey say, and the attempt to keep her voice from shaking was obvious.

"It's not your mom, Zo," Max said, and then silence followed for a few moments.

"I'm fine, Max. I'm sorry I ran out like that," Zoey said quieter than her other responses, but Max could still hear it.

"Zoey, can you open the door?" Max asked gently, and when he got nothing back in response he sighed, turning and sinking down onto the floor, his back up against her bedroom door. Unbeknownst to them both, Zoey and Max were now both sitting on the floor with their backs directly to each other's, the only thing separating them being a wooden door. 

"Zo, you might not want me to be here right now, and I get that, I do. But it'll be physically impossible for me to just leave this house without knowing for a fact that you are okay. And Zoey, I know you. They all thought they knew you and told me that you just wanted to be alone, but I know almost every single one of your emotions by now, and that was the same reaction that you had when you came to me after a bad day with your father, or a stressful day at work, or when you thought that Simon and Jessica going through their rough patch was your fault. 

"And Zo? Whatever you think is your fault, not a single thing went wrong and not a single thing was your fault either. Trust me, Zoey. If you hated the kiss and that's why you left, then it's fine. I got to kiss you once, and if you never want it to happen ever again I'll have to deal with that and I'll understand that. 

"But if you think you ruined something, or ruined our friendship, or whatever you think you've done wrong, I can one hundred percent guarantee that you did absolutely nothing wrong back there. If you want me to leave right now, Zoey, then I'll leave and I'll give you as much time and space as you need. But I had to talk to you before just leaving and never allowing myself to talk to you again."

Max sat there on the floor for a few moments, tracing the outside seam of his jeans on one of his pants legs as he waited for any indication that Zoey wanted to talk. 

Zoey felt the tears begin to fall even faster than before during Max's speech, feeling like he was just saying all of that so she would open the door and then he'd pull the rug out from under her and knock her off her feet by saying the exact opposite once there was no barrier between them. But Zoey knew Max, and she knew that he never lied to her, no matter what the situation at hand was.

The ginger began to furiously wipe at her face to rid it of her dry and fresh tears, trying to make it look like she wasn't just crying. Zoey slowly and shakily stood up- almost falling backwards onto the floor again in the process- and unlocked the door before pulling it open, head and eyes downcast towards the floor so that Max couldn't see how much of a mess she looked like. But, to her luck, he was sitting on the floor, and her looking down made it look like Zoey was looking directly at Max. 

She turned around and made her way over to her bed, sitting down with crossed legs as she faced the opposite way of the doorframe, her back to Max as he stepped inside the room and shut the door behind him.

"Zo," he whispered, and Zoey broke once again, her body trembling as tears began to flood her face in waterfalls and a sob ripped it's way from the back of her throat. 

"Hey, hey, I'm here, Zoey. It's gonna be okay," Max said softly as he got onto the bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her from the right side.

It took Zoey less than a millisecond to turn her body around, wrap her arms around Max's waist, and begin to cry against his chest, Max hugging her as tightly as he could as he began to rub up and down her back gently with one hand.

The two sat like that for what felt like hours to Zoey before she finally managed to make herself stop sobbing, the only remains being the tears that were still cascading down her face. She shut her eyes tighter than they were before and clenched the back of Max's shirt in tight fists, never wanting to let the boy in front of her go.

"Hey, hey, I'm here," Max whispered, bringing the hand that was rubbing at her back up to rake through her hair slowly, and Max leaned forward to press a kiss against the top of Zoey's head, her face buried as far against his chest as she could possibly have it while still managing to breathe at the same time.

"I'm so sorry," Zoey mumbled after a few more minutes passed by, and Max pulled away, confused. Zoey looked down at the bedspread, playing with her fingers.

"Zoey, why are you sorry?" he asked softly, and she sighed.

"Because I made such a fool out of the two of us in front of my family and the people we work with? Max, they're going to be nagging us about it for the rest of our time at SPRQPoint now and whenever you and I are in the same room in front of my family, all thanks to me," she said quietly, and Max shook his head, using two fingers to tilt Zoey's chin up so she was making eye contact with the boy.

"Zoey Clarke, you did not make a fool out of either of us, and you have nothing at all to possibly be sorry for. I would be honored to get teased alongside you for us kissing each other, because, if you didn't hate it and wanted it to happen again, I'd turn around and kiss you right in front of all of them again just so that they'd stop teasing us. You're perfect, Zoey, and I would never be mad at you for doing something like that."

Zoey sighed, and Max held his breath after asking her the next question.

"What are you thinking about?"

Zoey shrugged, wanting so badly to look down so she could avoid Max's eye contact because it was like a drug that just made her want more of it, but Max's fingers were still resting under her chin and it didn't seem like he planned on moving them anytime soon.

"I-I don't know," she mumbled, and Max nodded slowly. 

"Well...I know you were the one to initiate the kiss, but you were also the first one to pull away. Did you...did you hate it?"

Zoey held her breath as she shook her head slightly.

"It was...it was probably one of the best ones I've ever had," Zoey said softly, pulling back so she could look down to try to hide her blush. 

"Okay, now this is embarrassed Zoey, that's exactly what I was saying," Max said with a smirk and a slight laugh, making Zoey groan and cover her face with her hands.

"Hey, hey, come on. You have nothing to be embarrassed by, Zo. I know for a fact that it was the best one I've ever had too, and I'm not embarrassed by saying that."

Zoey sighed and pulled her hands away from her still-slightly-red face, making Max smile as she softly smiled back.

"You didn't hate it?" Zoey asked quietly, and Max laughed.

He leaned forward to cup Zoey's face before pressing his lips against hers, putting as much emotion into the kiss as he possibly could before pulling back slightly, running his thumb over Zoey's bottom lip before looking up at her eyes.

"Would I have just kissed you again if I hated it?" he whispered, and Zoey smiled, pecking Max's lips again quickly before engulfing him in the tightest hug Max has ever been in, wrapping his arms around Zoey's back as he managed to hug her even tighter, huge smiles on both of their faces.

Zoey knew for a fact now that she had spent years trying to perfect the hiding of her feelings for absolutely nothing. She didn't care that her stomach was doing flips from Max's smile and her heart was beating faster from when he laughed. And as much as she loved hugging Max and now getting to kiss Max as well, she just loved Max way more. 

And in that moment, Max didn't care about the fact that Zoey sang a love song to Max and then sang a lust song to Simon. He didn't care if Zoey was reading his mind right now and he burst into song and dance about how happy he was. He didn't care about the walls that he had previously built around himself, because they were knocked down as far as they possibly could be and they were never going to be let up ever again, for Max was currently embracing his best friend in the tightest hug he's ever been part of, and he knew that he would never have to worry about missing Zoey ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> since this is my first time writing for zoey’s extraordinary playlist, i hope that the character’s weren’t too ooc. let me know what you thought!! :)


End file.
